Bounded by Riverside Avenue on the north bank of the St. Johns River, Memorial Park holds 5.85 acres of the Riverside neighborhood. This is the city's third-oldest park and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. Shortly after World War I ended, the Rotary Club of Jacksonville proposed a park to honor the 1,200 Floridians who died in the conflict, and the following year the City acquired the land.
The project was embraced by locals: 31 civic groups helped raise money and plan the park. The Olmsted Brothers were commissioned to design it; the same firm that laid out the Biltmore Estate, several National Parks, and numerous college campuses. They worked here with local architect Roy A. Benjamin.
Look for the bronze sculpture titled "Spiritulized Life," created by Charles Adrian Pillars, a First Coast resident for over a quarter century; Pillars also produced the two works from Florida that stand in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. Stand quietly and you can feel the layered care that built this riverside memorial. Picture the St. Johns River, Riverside Avenue, and the bronze sculpture at the heart of the park, all within your view.